Armored Core: Journey of a Pilot
by commandant klink
Summary: Alex Raven, a pilot for the Mars Sara colony, is discharged and sent back to Earth. There, he finds his feet again, and decides to try and rejoin the Ravens. Rated Teen, may go up in time.
1. Chapter 1

Armored Core: Journey of a Pilot

Armored Core: Journey of a pilotChapter one: A Fresh New BeginningAlex yanked the controls to the left, maneuvering his AC just in time to dodge the barrage of fire from his opponent. Sighing to himself, he pulled the trigger, unleashing a series of shots from his weapon, only two out of ten hitting their mark. A voice crackled over the radio, "You're gonna have to do better then that to hit me, Raven!" Alex's last name, just by chance, was the same as his occupation, a Raven mercenary. So, everyone just called him Raven, instead of Alex, or some other cool sounding nickname, like the pilot he was facing right now, who called himself "Deadly shadow", because his AC was painted jet-black, and blended well into the shadows of the arena they were in. However, nothing could hide from his radar, or his missiles, of which all twenty of the small missiles were locked on, and he fired them, all of them hitting their mark. They may have been small, but in numbers like that, they could cause some serious damage. And they did, nearly dropping his opponent's AP to none. A loud bang, followed immediately by a shuddering vibration jarred him out of his thoughts as warning lights and high-pitched sounds told him his heat was high, as was his damage. He needed to end this soon. Pulling up his back weapon, the barrels of the chain gun began spinning, then firing a rapid succession of shot, some of them missing, but most of them hitting, dropping the opposing pilot's AP to zero. 'Just one more shot...', Alex thought to himself. He took it, and it hit it's mark, but not before his opponent got a shot off, destroying his AC just moments after his enemy's. He had won, but his AC was destroyed. "Lucky the arena pays the bills.", Alex said to himself as his AC was put into the docking collar, where he met up with his opponent. "Good fight, Raven. You were better then I thought." Alex smiled and thanked Jason, the pilot as he fest a tap on his shoulder. Turning, he saw Megan, the person who had been assigned to him, to help him with missions and decide what he would be best doing. "Megan, hi. Good to see you." She nodded, but didn't have a look of congratulations on her face as she said, "Kline wants to see you in his office." Sighing, Alex nodded and walked down the corridor, stopping for a moment to look out the window at the scenery of Mars, and found himself in front of the door that he didn't want to go through. Opening it, he walked in, facing the man that could be considered his boss. Kline smiled at Alex and said, "You are dismissed." Alex shrugged and turned to leave when Kline said, "From this planet."Turning in bewilderment, Alex said, "Excuse me?" "Alex Raven, you are hereby discharged from the service of the Ravens on the plants Mars and Earth." "WHAT?!", Alex shouted, "Why?!" "Because you've accumulated more debt then you can pay off. You're a heavy spender, and you've caused more damage then you can repair. Your account has been in the negative for the last three weeks, and we cannot allow you to go on." Alex just stood there, dumbfounded. "That will be all, Alex. There's a shuttle waiting to take you back to Earth, where you can start a new life. Who knows, you might even find yourself a wife or something.", Kline said, smirking. He had been looking for an excuse to get Alex off of Mars for a while now, and didn't hide it. And he had found it in Alex's debt. Storming out, Alex made his way to his quarters to find that there was someone in it. Another Raven, who had no stripes on his uniform, and had no name tag. A rookie. "Oh, you must be Alex. I was told that you were gone, so they gave me your room. Your belongings are were already shipped to the shuttle. Sorry man, but I guess we aren't all cut out to be Ravens." Alex boiled in his own blood, wanting to strangle the kid right there, but kept himself in check. He just sighed and made his way to the shuttle. Indeed, all of his things were there. His trophies, his posters, and his pillows.Alex resigned to his fate as he strapped himself in, feeling the ship shudder to life beneath his feet. He was going to miss being a pilot, and everyone knew it, especially Megan. She had been there with him since day one, and she knew how much he loved it. The pilot put the ship on auto-pilot and walked back to Alex, holding out an envelope, "Someone said that this was to be given to you." Curious, Alex took it and opened it to find a letter."Dear Alex, I don't know exactly how to write this, but I know that I need to. I enjoyed the time I spent monitoring you, signing you up for missions, and even hanging out with you at the bar sometimes. I think I might have even fallen for you in a few months if the job didn't prevent it. I'm sorry that I couldn't do anything to persuade Kline from kicking you off of Mars, and believe me, I tried. I wish you the best of luck in your new life on Earth. Raven, where will you go? What will you do now? Write me sometime, I'd like to keep in contact with you. Hell, I might even take my vacation time and come to see you. Well, that's all I can say for now.Best of luck, Megan Aldorman"Alex stared at the letter for a few minutes after he finished reading it, then set it down. He would keep it. He knew where she was staying, so that wasn't a problem, but she was right. Where would he go? He needed a place to stay, or he would be out on the streets. He had some friends back on Earth, but they would probably want a little notice. unstrapping himself, he made his way over to the communicator on the wall and typed in the number of his old friend, Kaekar. After a few rings, a figure appeared on the screen. "Huh? Alex? Is that you? Man, it's been forever since I last heard from you! What's up man?" Alex smiled and said, "I'm coming back to Earth and was wondering if I could crash at your place until I find a place of my own." Kaekar smiled and said, "Sure man. I might even hook you up with some of my sister's friends. You know, they've been asking about you lately, wondering if you were ever going to visit. Kim has had a crush on since the third grade." Alex smiled and said, "Too much information, man. See you when I get to Earth." Kaekar nodded and the screen went black. Sighing once more, Alex made his way to his seat and buckled up, reclining the seat. He needed some sleep, and he planned to sleep during the entire journey to Earth.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two: A New Home

Alex Raven stood at the entrance of the spaceport, looking over the city of Baltimore. Breathing in the air, he couldn't believe how fresh it smelled. Ever since they had made the renewable energy reactors, they had started cleaning up Earth's atmosphere, and soon, it was good as new. Hailing a taxi, he gave the driver the directions to his friends house. Piling in with all of his two small duffel bags, he relaxed in the comfortable seats.

Stopping just outside of the home, he looked upon his old friend's house one more time. It was large, very large. He had befriended Kae in school, and had never regretted it. Kae was the kind of person who was always picked on, but was smarter then Einstein. And he was. He had invented a brand new search engine, and had sold it to one of the major computer companies for over 28 million dollars. He then went on to revolutionize technology by creating the world's first micro-holographic projector. Before that, they were the size of chess tables. Now, they could be the size of a pinhead. Not to mention he had inherited Microsoft from his father. All of that combined, it was an understatement to say he was wealthy.

Walking up to the fence, a camera turned and the lens zoomed in on him. From the intercom, a voice came, "State your name and business with Mr. Virial." "My name's Alex Raven. I'm a close friend of Kae. He said I could stay with him until I get on my feet." "One moment, please.", the voice said. "Welcome to Virial Manor, Mr. Raven." Alex smiled to the camera and said, "Thank you, sir." There was no response as Alex made his way up the winding driveway.

As Alex made his way towards the large doors, they began to open slowly, a figure darted out and rammed into Alex, full speed, shouting, "ALEEEEEXXXX!!", knocking him to the ground, dropping his bags, Alex smiled, "Hey there Shana, how you doing?", he said as he greeted the seventeen year old. She looked up at him and smiled, "It's been a long time!" Shana was Kaekar's daughter, seventeen years old, and just starting to "develop". She had auburn hair, crystal blue eyes, and wore a pair of thick BCGs. Alex nodded, saying, "It sure has. You were what, seven, the last time I saw you!" The two got up, her still clinging to him, "So, where's your father, Shana?" She smiled and said, "He's in his study. Right now he's in a business meeting with some big people." Alex nodded, "Ah. Well, I'll leave him alone so he can continue with his meeting. Shana nodded and said, "Lemme show you around the place!", in her usual peppy mood. Alex smiled yet again. He just couldn't get past her constant happiness, not that he had a problem with it, of course. As she showed him around the giant house, he stared at the various things. Kae may be a bit of a punk and all, but he sure did have good taste in classical paintings. There were various paintings done by people, most of them copies, likely, ones my Michelangelo, Leonardo Davinchi, the like. He also had suits of medieval armor lining the walls every ten feet. Kae loved to play games that involved them.

"And this is your room.", Shana said as she stopped in front of the only room that wasn't currently being used for something. Alex looked in find a queen sized bed, a walk-in wardrobe, and a wall covered with a bookshelf, which was packed with books of all kinds, from self-help books, to books on computers, to books on religion. That was another Alex didn't understand about Kae. He still used books, and didn't imput them all into his computer. He enjoyed reading them. Guess he wasn't lying when he said he was a bookworm, whatever that meant. Alex walked in and set his duffel bags down on the bed, sitting down on the edge of the bed. It was good to have a soft bed again, instead of the hard-mattresses cots on the Mars Sara station. Looking at Shana, he said, "Home sweet home. For now at least." Shana smiled her usual smile, saying, "I missed you so much, Uncle Alex.", walking in and sitting beside him. Placing his arm around her shoulders, he said, "Missed you too, kiddo." She smiled and scratched the shot stubs on hair on the top of his head, "Why do they make you keep your hair this shot in the military, anyways?" Alex just shrugged, smiling, "I haven't got the slightest clue. Guess it's just a habit of the old days, before ACs. She smiled and nodded, "Probably."


End file.
